The King's Decision
by domina tempore
Summary: The King ponders his fury with Anna when she calls him a barbarian...and his inability to punish her. The beginning of the end.  movie-verse
1. Chapter 1

**The King and I:** _The King's Decision_

_by: jewel of athos_

_Author's Notes: Based in the movie universe, not the play universe (because I'm not fortunate enough to have seen it…and I can't imagine anyone but Yul Brynner as the king). There's this one shot in the scene where he's about to beat the girl where he doubles over like he's in pain; and since after that scene is when his decline begins, I wanted to write something to hint at that and suggest the beginning of the end…_

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

The king ran in a blind rage back to his chambers, furious that Anna would oppose him that way and furious that he cared enough to stop. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach, but he ignored it, focusing all of his capacity to _feel_ on Anna. How dare she reprimand him that way, like a mere schoolboy? In front of his subjects? How _dare_ she humiliate him and undermine his authority when he was about to deliver a punishment? This was unacceptable. He should call his guards, and have them –

_No._ He stopped, fighting back a moan from the mixture of physical and emotional anguish that coursed through him. As angry as he was, he could not find it in himself to punish _Anna_ for what she had done. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't have hesitated; but with her? He couldn't do it.

"I will not see her again," he muttered to himself, hoping to believe his own decision by speaking it aloud. "She can go back to England or stay if she wishes; but I will not see her. She is too good to be in presence of a _barbarian_ king." He snorted sarcastically, and then coughed twice. Dismissing it as a mere reaction to stress, he completed the trip back to his chambers with a kingly dignity that he did not feel, and dismissed all of his servants and slaves and sent them away. Once he was alone, he settled himself cross-legged on his bed, and fingered the ring that Anna had given back.

He coughed again.

_fin._

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

_A/N: It could use some work; I wrote it around 4 in the morning. But all things considered, I'm alright with it…especially considering that I never attempt to write for stand-alone movies. Except for those with Yul Brynner in them. Which began over the course of the past three weeks…_

_Anyways, shutting up. Hope you enjoyed! (:_


	2. Chapter 2

**The King and I:** _The King's Decision_

_Part 2_

_by: jewel of athos_

_Author's Note: I decided to make this one into a three-shot, the first his resolve to not see Anna again, the second showing his deterioration, and the third his final decision… I feel like in this chapter, I was writing as much about how I understood Yul Brynner as a person, as I was about how I understood the king. It's difficult to explain…_

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

The king was in a rage.

This had been happening with increasing frequency since the night of the banquet; he would be lethargic in one moment, and fly into a wild rage the next, throwing things and beating anyone who came too near. Always with his fists and feet, though; never with a whip or any kind of tool. Never again.

He was going mad, but not for the reasons that his people believed. He never let them see that vulnerable part of him; he did everything in his power to maintain the illusion of his own strength. But he was not strong anymore.

What had started on that night as a cough and a pain had escalated into a terrible sickness that stole his breath and stabbed him in the night. It spread through his body, oozing through like spilled ink and weakening his limbs. More than once, he had leapt up in anger only to find himself on his knees on the floor, gasping for breath. But he refused to see a doctor.

The object of his current fury was Kralahome, who had come to try to convince him of a particular physician's merits.

"It is an English doctor," he said. "Well trained, he has saved many lives. Let him examine you." The king replied by heaving a spectacularly heavy pot at him from behind a red curtain. He barely dodged it, and it smashed to bits on the floor.

"No!" he screamed. "Go away! It is of no concern to you!"

"It is if my people lose their king!" Kralahome returned, for once not caring if he spoke back to his king. He would do anything to keep him alive.

"They will not!" the king replied, pitching out a book, and bits of a china tea-service that had been a gift from some ambassador.

"You are dying!"

"NO!" The king burst from behind the curtain, his eyes wild and his chest heaving, his skin pale and clammy-looking. "No more doctors poking, and prying et cetera! I am not dying; this is not that kind of sickness. _You_ know this!" He pointed dramatically at Kralahome, but the effect was ruined by his shaking hand. He snatched it back. "_You_ know who can cure it. But she will not come!" The last word came out a growl, and he turned his back angrily. "Leave."

"Please, let doctor come. Or if she is cure, go to Anna. Do not leave your people so soon in death."

"I. Say. Get. _OUT_!" The king would suffer no disobedience, and no doctors. If Anna would not come to him, if her _scientific_ mind was too proud to admit that she was wrong, then so be it. He would not run begging to a woman.

_fin. _

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

_A/N: The last part, the final resolve coming soon…just gotta type it up…;)_


	3. Chapter 3

**The King and I:** _The King's Decision_

_Part 3_

_by: jewel of athos_

_Author's Notes: The one thing that I couldn't seem to get quite right in this fic is their speech cadences…When I'm writing Yul in other characters, it's easy to find his voice; but the king leaves out or changes certain words in a way that's surprisingly difficult to get onto the page. I've tried my best to make it sound alright, though. _

_Slight time jump here from the last chappie…a bit more drastic than the last one…_

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

The king gasped as a sharp pain stabbed at his side. He moved a feeble hand to probe the spot anyways, but even that movement was an effort for him. In his mind he cursed himself, longing for the strength to scream. As it was, he no longer had the strength or the will to stand. His attendants crawled in and out of his chambers to serve him.

He had been a fool. He knew it now; so much pain could have been avoided if he had simply been able to swallow his pride. So much pain…

The king knew he was dying. At first he had fought it like a roaring beast, despising this thing uncurling inside of him. But then he had ceased to fight, or even to care, willing to let the beast win if only it would put an end to the whole business. If Buddha had decreed him to die, then so be it. At least then he would be free.

But he did not want to die alone. Ever since the night of the banquet, he had tried to be alone; throwing things at people, pushing them out and distancing himself from everyone that he cared about. He had always been a man who loved to be surrounded by those in his life, and these past weeks had only served to hurt him more as he starved himself of company. But it had been a fitting punishment for a fool.

Weakly, he called for Kralahome.

"Go, summon my children," he whispered, his voice managing to be commanding and powerful as he gave the order in spite of the fact that he could barely draw breath. "Tell them to come; I wish to be seeing them one last time."

"To hear is to obey," Kralahome nodded, preparing to scuttle out.

"And also," the king stopped him with a faint wave of his hand, "also have someone summon Anna to me."

"Anna?" A tired smile passed over the king's lips when Kralahome said her name.

"She will come," he assured him. "I know she will come. But you must not let her know that it is I who has asked; you must make her believe that it is _she_ who decides to do it. Miss Anna is _very_ stubborn when it comes to such ideas…" he trailed off fondly.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Kralahome," the king stopped him once more, his voice almost dreamy, "do you suppose Moses ever feel this way, at the end? Do you suppose he forgive, and smile?"

"I could not say." Kralahome hurried out quickly, before the king could delay him any further, and Mongkut laughed once to himself. Anna would have understood. She would understand. And he would have to ask her to send the elephants to America…

He smiled. Funny, it was, how after all of the anger and pain and betrayal that he had felt because of her, he was glad to be seeing her again.

He twisted the ring off his finger, the one that he had tried to give her that night, and studied it carefully. He would thank Anna tonight, for all that she had done for him, and his family, and his country. The teacher who had come to help the children, in the end, had taught the king instead; and that was something worth rewarding. He did not regret his decision.

_fin._

*~.~o**0**o~.~*

_A/N: And it's finished for real this time! Haha O:). This last one, I think, was the hardest one to write…I knew in my head what I wanted, but I struggled far more than I thought I would to get the wording and the flow the way that I imagined it. I still could have ended it better. But overall, I'm satisfied with the story as a whole. I hope you liked it! God bless! -jewel_


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